Box Score The William & Mary volleyball team picked up a big road win on Sunday afternoon, beating Northeastern in Boston 3-1.  The Tribe improved to 7-8 overall and evened its conference record at 1-1, while the Huskies fell to 4-14 and 1-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Box Score

The Tribe offense, behind setters Austyn Ames (Wichita, Kan.) and Gabrielle Pe (Virginia Beach, Va.), was absolutely clicking especially early in the match.  In fact, the Tribe hit .462 in the first set, and didn't commit an offensive error until late in the second.  That first set was tied up at 13-13 midway through, but two big runs late put W&M ahead.  First, the Tribe had a 7-2 streak from that tie to go ahead 20-15, and then a finishing 5-2 run soon after that Michelle Heath (Blacksburg, Va.) finished off with an ace, 25-18.

The second set also went for W&M, as the Green and Gold chipped away early and got out as far as 17-10 before committing the first attack error of the match.  The Huskies didn't just roll over, coming back within one point on a couple occasions, but two of Dessi Koleva's (Torrance, Calif.) six kills in the set helped decide the set, 25-21.  Northeastern won the third, 25-22, despite five more kills from Koleva, and then in the fourth, it looked like the Huskies might be on their way to another win.  The Tribe fought back to tie the match at 15-15, however, and never trailed by more than three the rest of the way.  That low spot was at 20-17, but an ace by Koleva capped a three-point run to tie things again at 20-20, and then a block by Sydney Biniak (Elkridge, Md.) and Kristen Larrick (Bethesda, Md.) put the Tribe ahead for good en route to a 25-23 win and the match.

For the afternoon, Koleva led all players with 16 kills on a .400 attack, and also had eight digs, two blocks, and a pair of aces.  Heath hit .318 with eight kills and seven digs, and matched her teammate with two aces and two blocks as well.  Senior Carolyn Albright (Raleigh, N.C.) had a match-high four blocks to go with her seven kills, and Larrick also had four blocks in her action.  Biniak picked up eight kills, and senior Mallory Brickerd (Ashburn, Va.) contributed five kills with five digs, an ace, and a block.

Ames, the sophomore setter, made the start and had 19 assists to go with six digs, a career-high four aces, and a pair of kills.  She did all that while splitting time at setter with Pe, who kept the offense ticking in high gear with 18 assists, seven digs, and an ace.  Sophomore Sara Zumbach (Franklin, Tenn.) had a match-high 19 digs, including nine in the decisive fourth set.

William & Mary returns home next weekend after a month-long road trip, and will stay in Williamsburg for nearly the entire month of October.  The Tribe begins its six-game homestand with league-leaders Towson on Friday night, Oct. 2, a match which will feature a special expanded multi-camera broadcast on TribeAthletics.TV.